Midlands Honda just took in this nice 2006 Honda Insight Hybrid with just under 59,600 miles on the clock.  It runs very well and the owner reported lately he’d been getting 60 mpg tanks on the regular.  The vehicle is equipped with Climate control and has two radios included, the stock radio and an aftermarket unit with an aux jack for a portable MPG Player MP3 Player.  Window Sticker ratings for this car were 60 MPG City, 66 MPG Highway.

This is a 5 speed standard transmission which gives you, in addition to direct control over what gear you’re in, Honda Lean Burn and ULEV emissions rating.  The vehicle seats two comfortably and has a spacious rear hatch and an under floor storage area in the rear.

Yesterday we had a truckload of Honda 2010 Honda Insights arrive, here are some pictures.  This is the first time in four years that Midlands Honda has received a new Insight delivery.  Welcome back little buddy.

 

Once they get through service for their prep, and receive fuel they’ll be ready for test drives and sale.

I did have the opportunity to park one, even without the car being initialized and all the functions activated, it was smooth, and easy to maneuver, and despite moving around on unpaved surfaces I still achieved a score in the high in the second level only half a leaf from the 3rd level.

 

More pictures follow after  the jump.

I would like to start today by looking at the new Insight’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) Battery Pack. The 2010 Insight, (Insight II or Insight Second Gen, or HI2) is equipped with the latest version of the Honda IMA Hybrid system. The vehicle is not designed to compete with another company’s flagship hybrid; Honda’s Civic Hybrid is tasked with that. This is the First modern hybrid available for under $20,000 MSRP.

IMA system Voltage (aka IMA Battery Voltage) is just over 100 volts this year (100.8v) versus the 158 volts found in the 2006-2009 Civic Hybrid. The Insight pack puts out 1770 watts and holds 5.75 Amp Hours of energy versus the 1380 watts of output at 5.5 Ah capacity found in the current Civic Hybrid. It does this with just seven battery modules in the pack compared with the Civic Hybrid’s 11 modules; one module is composed of 12 cells. Pack weight shrinks from 68 pounds to 45 pounds.

Pricing for the new 2010 Honda Insight (HI2) was released on March 10, and today I will cover that information and give my take on the numbers. I received the information at 22:00 and wanted to confirm it at work before posting.

The news appeared to break early and came from third party sources, several hours later Honda Press made the official announcement. 

The on Sale date is March 24th, just a few days from now!

 

The Honda Insight Blog reports:

Dick Colliver, our executive vice president, said, “The all-new Honda Insight brings the cost-of-entry for hybrid technology into reach for an entirely new car-shopping audience. In addition to making good environmental sense, hybrid technology is now entering a new era where it can also make financial sense for a broader range of customers.”
If you want to add features like alloy wheels, cruise control, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, an upgraded audio system with six speakers, a USB audio interface [3], and much more, you can upgrade to the Insight EX with an MSRP of $21,300 [1].
 

2010 Honda Insight Pricing and EPA Data

Model MSRP[1]	EPA[2]	City/Hwy/Combined
Insight LX	$19,800	40/43/41
Insight EX	$21,300	40/43/41
Insight EX with Navi	$23,100	40/43/41